Reflections

  Reflections is creating quite a buzz despite its short length and modest budget.  The 25-year-old Bijoy Nambiar from Mumbai said he wanted the film to be very simple but for better or worse it did not turn out that way.”When I finished it and added the music, it didn’t turn out simple. The film has its own chemistry. A lot of people I have shown it to cannot get it because it has this beautiful ambiguity about it.

 

Well-known Indian actor Mohanlal plays the main character in Reflections, a loner who looks at those around him and daydreams about what his life could be like, putting himself in the place of those who are more fulfilled than he is.”I had one of India’s best actors. Once he came on board everything changed. It took a life of its own,? he said.

Nambiar took eight months to film Reflections – an average of one minute’s filming per month – largely because he had to fit in stints behind the camera with his day job as a textile exporter. As well as not having the luxury of being able to work full-time on his project, Nambiar also lacked formal training in film-making.I didn’t get the opportunity to study at film school so it’s been my opportunity to learn. Every day I was learning new things,” he said.Among the things he learned was that filmmakers need to know much more than merely how to direct a shoot – they have to be able to balance the books as well.He spent Rs600,000 (Dh48,249) making Reflections – money that he originally hoped would also be enough to pay for a documentary and possibly another short film.My next film will be another short. I’m going to make it in Kerala but I will have to be more careful with the budget this time,” he said.Given all the interest Reflections is creating, it might be expected that Nambiar would like to quit his work and become a full-time filmmaker. However, he is not sure if that is the right thing to do.It’s a tightrope I am walking because it’s a family business. I cannot just give it up,” he said with a shrug

Find an excerpt from interview with Juhi babbar ( Hindu article dated nov1/2006 )

“And then there’s Reflections, a short film starring her and Mohanlal. “I have to be convinced about a project before I agree to it. He just came up to me and asked if I would star in his film,” she says of Bijoy Nambiar, the director. “He didn’t even tell me that Mohanlal was in the film till I said yes, because he wanted me to agree because of his script and not because of Mohanlal.”